Determining aspect ratio for display of video

Abstract

The intended display aspect-ratio for video is determined automatically by analyzing an image to identify image blocks resulting from prior block-based processing of the video; comparing horizontal and vertical dimensions of those image blocks with horizontal and vertical dimensions of the image, with black border regions excluded as necessary; and determining from that comparison a display aspect ratio for the video.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for determining in a video processor the intended display aspect-ratio for video data, the method comprising:
 analyzing the video data to detect the block size used in prior block-based processing of that data; 
 using the result of said analysis to determine the intended display aspect-ratio; 
 detecting a block measurement; and 
 comparing said block measurement with an expected block measurement for said video data. 
 
     
     
       2. The method according to  claim 1  in which said detecting a block measurement includes detecting a block width, and said comparing said block measurement with an expected block measurement for said video data includes comparing said detected block width with an expected block width for the said video data. 
     
     
       3. The method according to  claim 1  in which said detecting a block measurement includes detecting a block height and said comparing said block measurement with an expected block measurement for said video data includes comparing said detected block height with an expected block height for the said video data. 
     
     
       4. The method according to  claim 1  in which an original image spatial sampling format is detected. 
     
     
       5. The method according to  claim 1  in which a number of samples per active line of the said original image format is detected. 
     
     
       6. The method according to  claim 5  in which the number of television lines per frame of the said original image is detected. 
     
     
       7. The method according to  claim 1  in which the said image data is analyzed to detect the presence of one or more blank borders and a detected border parameter is used to determine the said intended display aspect ratio. 
     
     
       8. The A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising generating metadata representing the intended display aspect-ratio, as determined, for use in video monitoring. 
     
     
       9. The A method according to  claim 8 , further comprising comparing said metadata representing the intended display aspect-ratio with other metadata associated with the said video data. 
     
     
       10. Apparatus for determining the intended display aspect-ratio for video data in which the said video data is analyzed to detect the block size used in prior block-based processing of that data, the apparatus comprising:
 a block width measurement unit for measuring the width of blocks used in prior block-based processing of said video data; 
 a block height measurement unit for measuring the height of blocks used in prior block-based processing of said video data; and 
 an aspect-ratio determining unit receiving a block width measurement from said block width measurement unit and a block height measurement from said block height measurement unit to determine therefrom said intended display aspect-ratio. 
 
     
     
       11. The apparatus according to  claim 10 , further comprising a format detection unit in which an original image format is detected. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus according to  claim 11  in which the number of samples per active line of the said original image format is detected. 
     
     
       13. The apparatus according to  claim 11  in which the number of television lines per frame of the said original image is detected. 
     
     
       14. The apparatus according to  claim 10 , further comprising a border measurement unit in which the said image data is analyzed to detect the presence of one or more blank borders and a detected border parameter is provided to the aspect-ratio determining unit for use in determining said intended display aspect ratio. 
     
     
       15. The apparatus according to  claim 10 , further comprising a metadata output for metadata representing the intended display aspect-ratio as determined. 
     
     
       16. A non-transitory computer program product adapted to cause programmable apparatus to implement a method comprising:
 analyzing an image to identify image blocks resulting from prior block-based processing of the video; 
 comparing horizontal and vertical dimensions of said image blocks with horizontal and vertical dimensions of the image; and 
 determining from said comparison a display aspect ratio for the video.